Quebecers are living longer and longer.

With an increasingly aging population and a smaller working population, our public health system is unable to keep up. For years now, governments have been trying to lower the astronomical costs of a public health system like ours while preserving the quality of care and speed of service. The challenge is a major one and, unfortunately, far from being solved. The demographic context has put us in a different reality than the one that saw the birth of public health insurance in Québec.

The cost of health care is rising.

In Québec, we enjoy a high-quality public health system. But like everything else, that quality comes with a price that doesn’t stop increasing. Consider the costs of maintaining our infrastructure, new medical technologies, medical personnel and the administrative structure -- the costs are obviously not shrinking.

Waiting times are a problem.

The burden on the public health system and the extra work it requires of medical personnel create waiting times that unfortunately undermine the speed at which some diseases are diagnosed and treated. This has been the situation in hospitals and clinics for many years now and is a constant concern for all Quebecers, particularly those whose health requires rapid care.